I lose the remote control at least once a day. It is never anywhere sensible. This is not a spell I read about somewhere and thought sounded nice — it is the one I use, probably more than any other in my whole practice, because losing things is just a fact of life.
A note on this one: When something goes missing, I do not go straight to the big guns. I start small and personal, the way you would ask a favor of someone you know well. I call on my ancestors, and specifically on St Anthony, who has been the patron saint of lost things in my family for longer than I have been alive. Most of the time that is all it takes. Every so often he needs a little backup, and that is where the cloth knot comes in.
First, You Call On Tony
Speak it plainly — Say it out loud, like you are talking to someone standing right next to you, three times through:
Tony, Tony, turn around
Something's lost and must be found
(repeat three times)
Walk away — Go back to whatever you were doing. Do not stand there staring at the spot where the thing should be.
Say thank you — The moment it turns up, stop and say thank you out loud. That part matters as much as the asking does. You do not just take the favor and walk off.
When Tony Needs Backup
- A white handkerchief or scrap of white cloth
- A candle
- A heavy chair, or your bed
The Cloth Knot
Light your candle — and tie a single loose knot in the cloth. As you tie it, say plainly what you want returned to you. Try not to let your mind wander toward someone having taken it — that is its own kind of trouble to invite in.
Speak the working — three times through:
By the power of three, I twist this thread,
Under chair or on my bed.
Intertwined by the holy trinity,
Bring back my lost item to me.
As I speak it, so mote it be.
(repeat three times)
Set it and wait — Place the cloth under a heavy chair leg, or tuck it under your bed, and leave it there until the item is found.
Untie it — Once the item is found, untie the knot. That is what releases the working. A tied knot left sitting around after its job is done is just clutter with intention attached.
She Swept the Whole House
The same instinct, dressed in a different century.
Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
"Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost." Luke 15:9, KJV